Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has promised Pakistani-Americans that he is working on a plan to develop the “best cricket team of the world” following the country’s debacle in the recently-concluded ICC World Cup in the UK.

Addressing a large crowd at a community event at
Washington’s Capital One Arena on Sunday, the cricketer-turned-politician said
a ‘Naya Pakistan’ was being created in front of people’s eyes.

“People ask ‘Where is Naya Pakistan?’ it is being
created in front of your eyes,” he said.

Referring to the poor show of the Pakistani team in the
recently-concluded ICC World Cup cricket tournament, Khan said he had
“started working on developing the best cricket team of the world in the
next tournament, by bringing the best players in the team”.

“Remember my words,” said the prime minister, who
led Pakistan to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Khan is currently on a three-day visit to the US and is
scheduled to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

He had given some pep talk to the country’s cricket team
ahead of their duel against India in the crucial ICC Cricket World Cup match on
June 16, saying the fear of losing leads to a negative and defensive strategy.

Pakistan, which lost the match against India, could not make
it to the semi-finals and finished fifth in the tournament that was won by
England for the first time.

Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board NajamSethi has
blamed the present management of the board for the national team’s poor show in
the World Cup.

“I have played cricket all around the world. I have
seen the most cricketing talent in Pakistan. But [because] there is no system
of merit, we can’t bring that talent up. This is why we are not dominating the
world [in cricket] because there is no meritocracy,” Khan said.

PM Imran said that America had succeeded thanks to a system
based on meritocracy, through which good leaders replaced bad ones.

He regretted that in Pakistan there was a “type of
monarchy” and merit did not come into play in the country.

“A society that doesn’t have merit, doesn’t go
forward,” Khan

The premier said that the second factor that took democracy
forward was leaders being held accountable.

“Democracy is successful when the leadership is
answerable.”

Khan said that the form of socialism in place during the
1970s had led to industrial growth in the country stopping and then after 1985,
bribery came into politics when the “real damage” took place.

“We saw Pakistan go down before our eyes,” he
said.
“Remember this is the time that Pakistan
will change, it is changing before you… Our country will rise before you. You
will see we will fix the system and let the lower segment come up,” he
said.

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